Golf Putter Head Design

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure relates to a putter head for a golf putter club, having a striking face ( 4 ), front body portion ( 2 ) and rear body portion ( 3 ) wherein the putter head has a central concave recess ( 8, 9 ) in the top and bottom surfaces of the front body portion ( 2 ) and rear body portion ( 3 ), the bottom surfaces ( 30 ) of the front body portion ( 2 ) and rear of the trailing edge body portion ( 3 ) has a ridged step ( 31 ) along the top surface, parallel with the top surface of the leading edge body portion ( 2 ).

The present invention relates to a putter head for a golf putter club.

A putter is a golf club designed for use primarily on the green, and theputting stroke is one which requires the angular orientation of theplanar striking face of the putter to remain substantially constantrelative to the ball during the time the putter head and ball are incontact.

Any opening or closing of the striking face of the putter relative tothe correct set-up, either during the contact time, or before contactwith the ball during the putting stroke, will cause the ball to followan unintentional path either outside or inside the intended ballpath—depending on whether the striking face of the putter was opened orclosed throughout the contact time with the ball.

An additional problem with the putting stroke is the set-up of thestriking face perpendicular to the intended ball travel direction beforethe commencement of the putting stroke. This is a common problem withputting as the current putter designs, as disclosed in numerous priorart, do not completely solve the difficulty in setting the putter head,and therefore the striking face of the putter, perpendicular to theintended ball travel direction.

A further problem with golf putters in general is the internal balanceand weight distribution of the putter head. If the weight of the putterhead is not well balanced, then unless the player strikes the ballexactly on the centre of the striking face, it is inevitable thatinternal moments will arise around the point of impact. These willresult in the putter head rotating in the direction of the moments andtherefore cause the striking face to either close or open as the ballcontacts the striking face, depending on the direction of rotation. Thisrotation will cause the ball to follow an unintentional path eitheroutside or inside the intended ball path.

It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate theabove problems. Accordingly, the present invention provides a putterhead for a golf putter comprising a leading edge body portion, atrailing edge body portion and a central body portion with a concaveprofiled area proximal to the point of impact with the ball which runsbetween the leading and trailing edges.

The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of theprinciple of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention tothe embodiments illustrated.

Preferably, the leading edge body portion is thin in relation to thetrailing edge body portion, and has a ball striking face, a bulbous toebody portion, a central body portion and a bulbous heel body portion.Ideally, an intentional concave recess above and below the central bodyportion is thus formed as a result of the geometry of the toe and heelbody portion. This recess is a major advantage over all prior art as itnot only further balances and spreads the mass either side of the impactpoint on the striking face, but as both the top surface and bottomsurface of the central body portion are concave, it further reduces themass in the striking zone of the leading edge, thus presenting asubstantially improved feel to the golfer on impact.

The reduced mass behind the striking zone as a result of this upper andlower concavity allows the leading edge to absorb more vibrationsresulting from the impact, and coupled with the mass benefits, increasesthe ‘sweet spot’ area, within which an impact with the ball will resultin no, or negligible internal moments, and the putter head remainingsquare to the intended set-up during impact and follow through. This isa major technical advantage over the prior art.

Preferably, the concavity above and below the central body portion ofthe leading edge is continued through to the trailing edge body portion,formed as a result of the geometry of the toe, heel and central bodyportions of the trailing edge body portion.

Ideally, the lower surfaces of the leading edge body portion are alsogeometrically followed through to the trailing edge body portion to formthe sole of the putter head, which contacts the putting surface onset-up. Preferably, the two distinct bulbous areas at the toe and heelof the sole, separated by the lower concavity running from the leadingedge to trailing edge, have a flat ground engaging region. This forms aflat sole to aid in correctly addressing the putter head behind the ballpreventing ‘heel up’ or ‘toe down’ set-up, encouraging straight takeaway and follow through of the putting stroke.

Ideally, the rear of the trailing edge body portion has a ridged stepalong the top surface, so as when viewed from above during set-up, thisridge provides visual parallel edges in conjunction with the top surfaceof the thin leading body portion when viewed from above during aiming.This aids the golfer in squaring the club behind the ball accurately andtherefore setting up the striking face perpendicular to the intendedball direction.

Preferably, the top surface of the leading edge body portion has meansfor receiving a putter golf club shaft. Alternatively, the top surfaceof the trailing edge body portion has means for receiving a putter golfshaft.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings which show by way of example only, one preferred embodiment fora putter head in accordance with the invention.

In the drawings:—

FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a front perspective view of the putter head of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an elevation of the putter head, looking towards the toe ofthe putter head;

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation of the putter head of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a front elevation of the putter head of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a top elevation of the putter head.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a putter head 1 for a golfputter. The putter head 1 has a leading edge body portion 2 and atrailing edge body portion 3. The leading edge body portion 2 has a ballstriking face 4, a bulbous toe body portion 5, a central body portion 6,and a bulbous heel body portion 7, and is ideally a thin section withrespect to the trailing edge body portion 3. In one preferredembodiment, the ball striking face 4 is comprised of a polymer insert inthe putter head 1.

A surface 8 on the underside of the leading edge body portion 2 and thetrailing edge body portion 3 have a central concave recess—with aconcave recess 9 on the top surface of the leading edge body portion 2and the trailing edge body portion 3. These central concave recesses arewithin the central body portion 6, and formed as a result of the toebody portions, central body portions and heel body portions of thetrailing edge body portion 3 and leading edge body portion 2. They areideally aligned with the perfect central striking point on the strikingface 4.

A portion of the top surface of the leading edge body portion 2 of theputter head has an area 20 designed to receive a golf putter shaft 21shown for illustrative purposes in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5. In an alternativeembodiment of the putter head, a portion of the top surface of thetrailing edge body portion 3 of the putter head 1 has an area designedto receive a golf putter shaft 21.

The lower surfaces of the leading edge body portion 2 and trailing edgebody portion 3, either side of the lower concave recess 8 have a flatsurface 30, parallel with the putting surface at address and extendingfrom the ball striking face 4 towards the rear of the putter head 1.

The rear of the trailing edge body portion 3 has a ridged step 31 alongthe top surface, parallel with the top surface of the leading edge bodyportion 2.

The drawings show one preferred embodiment of the invention, butvariations and modifications can be made without departing from thescope of the invention as described above.

1- The design for a golf putter head as shown and described comprising:a putter having a striking face, front body portion and rear bodyportion and specifically; 2- The golf putter of claim 1 wherein: theputter head has a central concave recess in the top and bottom surfacesof the front body portion and rear body portion 3- The golf putter ofclaim 1 wherein: the bottom surfaces of the front body portion and rearbody portion are flat acid parallel with the putting surface 4- The golfputter of claim 1 wherein: the rear of the trailing edge body portionhas a ridged step along the top surface, parallel with the top surfaceof the leading edge body portion.